One of my greatest moments in have had was to preform the marriage ceremony of my sister and her wife (they got official married by a marriage officer in private the night before) I'm not gay but researching how to perform this ceremony was a great experience. It took two months of research, but the honour of performing the ceremony was part of my healing.

I'm still looking for a place to but it on the net, so others can benefit from my research.

The church once believed the world was flat, politicians believed that slavery was desirable, citizens believed that apartheid was acceptable .........they were wrong.

When will the church and especially those intelligent, first world, democratic counties move into the 21 centurary, it is hard to believe that 12 years into this new centurary, two people who love each other cannot get married.

This idea of civil union is bullshit, it is a compromise, it s discriminatory. It was be marriage.

i'm not holding my breathstates legalize things (like pot) and the national government says "nu uh no way"we'll just see same in reverseIF this president should happen to get anything through the house and the senate and out to the people approving same-sex unions, you can count on states not permitting it.Honestly - i will be surprised if i see a law permitting same-sex unions in my life time. I sure don't expect to ever see it called "marriage" in the books.

IF this president should happen to get anything through the house and the senate and out to the people approving same-sex unions, you can count on states not permitting it.

The concept that this is something that can be voted on is fundamentally flawed. California Prop * never should have happened (and in fact is being challenged). People can vote for their political leaders, and they can vote on certain matters of policy (usually at the local and state level). But they should not be given the vote to determine which minorities get rights. And they certainly should not vote to remove rights as many states are doing with right-removing constitutional amendments. I happen to believe that working backwards against the ever-progressive cogs of democracy - regardless of which group is targeted - jeopardizes the very foundation of the institution of democracy itself. Did we vote to allow African Americans the right to vote, or the right to attend colleges, or the right to marry outside of their race? Those issues were determined by judges. That is precisely the way it should be handled.

Our new South African (under 20 years) constitution outlines basic human rights. It was the judges that determined that the love between two people should be treated equally if they are of the same or different sex, and ruled that gay marriages are legal. The other major ruling was that the right to life, it ruled that the state did not have the right to death penalty. These rulings applied to each and every citizen irrespective of which state /province you live in.

If this was voted apron in South Africa by its citizens, neither would be passed. Your argument is totally logical. The constitution is the basis on which all politicians can manage the state, the rights under the constitution, apply to all its citizens. I never understood why your rights are protected more in one state than another. You are right, the judges must decide.

I think this is really just a meaningless PR move so that the president can get re-elected. Simply stating an opinion isn't going to make gay marriage national. And sadly, even if we did have gay marriage tomorrow, it wouldn't change the fact that there is a widely disproportionate number of homeless GLBT youth starving on the streets after being thrown out of their abusive homes, bullied at school, discriminated against in employment, etc. Gay people need more than just marriage, more than just a token statement in an election year.

Congradulations to my cohorts to the south. It is a big step but a small step. Not an oxymoron really.

Big cuz a face of normalcy has to be put on this, it is here in Canada, and really it is NO BIG DEAL even for the conservative government, they closed all the loopholes. Churches are entitled not to perform such weddings no big whoop, but there are equal rights for all.

Small step cuz there is that pesky state bs, and yes the jim crow stuff and yes the its not going to put food in the mouth of the homeless lgbt youth.

But it was the right thing to do, reqardless of political timing , feet being held to the fire or where he is secretly gay. Yup you knew that was coming.

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